5 minute read
President's Message
BRIAN HENRY, 2024 CHAPTER PRESIDENT PARK WEST LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT
As my year comes to a close, it has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the 2024 CAI-GRIE Chapter President. Over the last 11 months we have been working very hard to continue with a positive path forward for our chapter. In September, we announced the hiring of Erica Tenney as our new Executive Director. She is already off to a fantastic start in her new role and will continue to pick up the intricacies of our chapter and move us forward. Also in September, we held our Annual Meeting and Board of Directors election. After meeting quorum, our chapter voted to elect Greg Borzilleri with Accurate Termite and Pest Control and Steven Penn with Alliance Association Management. Both will be serving new three-year terms. Congratulations Greg and Steven!
Our Education Committee has worked hard and produced nine successful educational programs and luncheons. Each has been highly informative, providing wonderful content to enhance the lives and work for our managers and homeowner leaders. The last of our programs was on December 3 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Ontario and was our very popular, annual legislative update. Our CAI-CLAC Legislative Advocate, Louie Brown, Jr. Esq. came down from Sacramento and joined Jeffrey Beaumont, Esq. to explain the new legislation, how we got here, and some of the planned focuses for the upcoming year. Those in attendance found their presentation to be both informative and very entertaining. The Chapter will continue to work hard to keep everyone informed of legislation that impacts our communities.
As always, our CAI-GRIE social networking events are always a great time. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Special Events Committee for their hard work in putting on so many of our events in 2024. It started way back in January with Comedy Night for CLAC, followed by a little axe throwing in February, a couple of Trivia Nights, a Friday in June riding buses in wine country, knocking down some pins in August, firing shotguns at Trap Shooting, and an epic night of entertainment with the critically-acclaimed band Flashpants to help support CLAC.
In November we hosted our annual Thanksgiving Cooking Competition— two nights of expert learning how to produce fine cuisine. Attendees showed off their skills in the kitchen and had a few laughs with friends at the Claremont Chefs Academy. And coming up, The Nightmare Before Christmas Chapter Holiday Party is on December 13. This will be a time for us to all come together, reflect on 2024 and to commemorate our achievements. Please come out to these wonderful social networking events!
Another committee that puts on two extraordinary events is the Country Faire & Monte Carlo Committee. Both events are always put together so well and heavily attended for a reason. Country Faire this year in May was truly one of the greatest! We had a fantastic turnout, enjoyed the cigar lounge, pig races, chili cookoff competition, the booze walk, a little dancing, and of course, the band. One of my absolute favorite events of the year (and I am sure one of yours as well) is Monte Carlo Night. It was held on November 16 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Ontario with the theme for this year as An Evening in the Mystical Garden . We incorporated TOPS Awards into this event to make it an even more extravagant evening. We came together for our awards program and to celebrate the achievements of our members for their hard work and contributions to not only this chapter but the industry. Thank you to everyone who attended, to the nominees, and to the TOPS Awards recipients!
2025 CAI-GRIE President Elect Greg Borzilleri conducted the annual Board of Directors Retreat in August. The Board came together to discuss all aspects of the chapter and our path to move forward and keep the positive momentum of 2023 and 2024. At the Strategic Planning Session in September Greg shared his and the Board’s vision with the chapter committees to ensure we can achieve more success in 2025 with precise measurables and renewed optimism. Greg and the chapter worked hard to put together the recently launched Marketing Plan and his 2025 The Inland Empire Strikes Back theme. A plethora of education and networking events await, along with 2025 marking the 35th Anniversary of our chapter—so be prepared for a year-round celebration! We are thankful for your leadership and continued support of this chapter, Greg, and we look forward to your presidency!
Lastly, as I reflect on my 2024 theme which was TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves M ore, it truly has been a TEAM effort this year, with so much collaboration and effort by many individuals to make this chapter what it is. Many have put in long hours of work only to then sacrifice more hours to make this chapter function and be a family. I want to take this time to say THANK YOU for all your hard work, passion, and effort in 2024 to help put CAI-GRIE in a better position to succeed for many, many more years to come!
With heartfelt gratitude,
